


Out of Reach

by That_is_right



Series: Trans Sheith Week 2021 [5]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, Illnesses, Light Angst, Mild Sexual Content, Nipple Play, Non-Binary Keith, Other, Trans Character, Trans Keith (Voltron), Trans Sheith Week 2021, Trans Shiro (Voltron), Transitioning, big old tiddies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-27 23:29:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30130542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/That_is_right/pseuds/That_is_right
Summary: “No, I mean it,” Keith says. “You’ve got such soft hair and skin, and you have the prettiest eyes, and you always make me feel safe.”“Why do I feel like—”“And you’ve got the world’sbestass.”“There it is,” Shiro laughs.
Relationships: Keith/Shiro (Voltron)
Series: Trans Sheith Week 2021 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2210952
Comments: 1
Kudos: 24





	Out of Reach

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for day 5 of Trans Sheith Week 2021 for the prompt of transitioning! 
> 
> I'll be real, I don't remember what sort of illness Shiro actually had in the show, and if you think my stupid ass is going to be able to figure it out, you are incorrect. Therefore, I've just given him some vague-ass illness which he takes some random meds for and I don't know what it is, but it's pretty much there as a bit of a plot device for me to project onto him a little bit. Basically, I'm imagining it as some random thing that could be really bad for him but he takes regular meds and he's fine. So it's not a big threat to him, but I guess just a warning for a focus on that? 
> 
> And yeah, as with all the fics in the series, Shiro is a trans man and Keith is non-binary. And there's also some AFAB language in here.

Shiro has the appointment with his doctor on a Monday morning. Had Keith not been stuck in a compulsory lab at the same time, they would have gone with him. Instead, they’re left anxiously waiting to see what Shiro’s doctor has to say about his eligibility for top surgery.

When Keith gets out of their lab at midday, the first thing they do is open their phone and check for any messages. When they see none, they send Shiro a text asking how the appointment went. After an hour of no response, Keith decides to skip their afternoon classes to go see if Shiro is in his room.

Keith knocks on his door and waits. “Shiro?” It’s silent. They try the door handle on the off chance that Shiro might just be asleep and has left the door unlocked, to no avail. Anxiety bubbles in Keith’s stomach as they walk back to campus. It’s not like Shiro to go silent and vanish like this, and there’s absolutely no way that it’s a good sign. If Shiro’s appointment had gone well, Keith is sure that they would be the first one to hear about it.

Keith sends Shiro several messages as afternoon turns to evening and evening turns to night. They make another trip to Shiro’s room to try and catch him, but they get no response then either. It’s nearly midnight before Keith goes to sleep, and they’ve still yet to hear anything from Shiro. They’re worried, but there really isn’t anything to do other than wait. Unfortunately, patience has never been their strong suit, so when morning comes, they drop by Shiro’s room again.

“Shiro?” Keith calls through the door. “I’m really worried about you. Can you at least tell me if you’re in there?”

There’s no response. Keith waits for a couple of minutes, earning themself a few odd looks from other people that live on Shiro’s floor, before they admit defeat.

“Okay, I have to go to class now,” Keith says to the door. “I’m not upset if you want space, I just want to know if you’re okay.”

Still, silence. Keith sighs and starts walking back down the elevator. They really thought that would work. Shiro isn’t the sort of person to knowingly make people worried, and especially not Keith. They press the button to call the elevator and stare at their feet, lost in thought. What could Shiro’s doctor have said to him to make him react this badly?

The elevator dings, and then— “Keith?”

They’re snapped out of their thoughts by the sound of Shiro’s voice. They look up from where they’re staring at the worn carpet. “ _Shiro?_ ”

And there, standing in the elevator, is Shiro. He looks just as surprised as Keith feels. “What are you doing here?”

“I was looking for you!” Keith says. “What the hell, where have you been?”

Shiro steps out of the elevator, and they move out of the way of the people waiting behind Shiro. “I’m sorry, I know you’ve been sending me messages, I just didn’t have the energy to answer—”

“But why have you been avoiding me?” Keith says. They’re trying to keep the hurt and frustration out of their voice, but that proves difficult.

“Avoiding you?” Shiro repeats, shocked. “I haven’t been avoiding you. What are you talking about?”

“I stopped by your room yesterday twice to try and talk to you. I get wanting to have some time to yourself, but ignoring me is just rude. If you want space, all you need to do is tell me.”

Shiro frowns. “What? When was this?”

“Uh, the first time was just after lunch, and the second time was probably around ten or eleven?”

Shiro frowns for a moment. “I didn’t come back to my room until later in the afternoon, and I think I was asleep when you came by last night.”

“Oh,” Keith says. “Well, that’s fine, but why would you ignore all my messages?”

Shiro does look guilty at that. “I’m really sorry, I know I should have just told you that I needed some time to process, but I was a bit of a mess yesterday.”

Keith’s frustration melts away as they notice the dark circles under Shiro’s eyes. He looks exhausted, far more so than usual. “Are you okay, Shiro?”

Shiro shrugs, but Keith can see moisture gathering in his eyes. “My appointment didn’t go well, which I think was already pretty obvious.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Keith asks.

Shiro exhales shakily. “I’ll just start crying again, and we’ve both got classes to go to.”

Keith scoffs. “Fuck them, we can always catch up later. Do you want to go back to your room or mine?”

“Can we go back to yours?” Shiro asks. “Mine is a bit of a mess.”

“Of course,” Keith says. They extend a hand for Shiro to take, and they give his hand a quick squeeze when he does.

They make the walk back to Keith’s room in comfortable silence. Keith doesn’t feel the need to spend the walk making small talk, and apparently neither does Shiro. Keith isn’t bothered by this, they’re too busy being relieved that Shiro is relatively alright and not actively avoiding them.

Once they get back to Keith’s room, Shiro drops Keith’s hand and wastes no time getting out of his shoes. He flops onto the bed, pulls the blankets over himself, and takes a deep breath in.

“Are you smelling my bed?” Keith asks, amused.

“It smells like you,” Shiro mumbles from underneath three layers of blankets. “Smells good.”

Keith sits down on the bed beside the lump that is Shiro. “You’re cute.”

Shiro sighs heavily, his voice still muffled. “I’m just sad.”

“What did your doctor say?” Keith asks.

Shiro flips the covers out of the way so he can speak clearly. “He said that top surgery would be too much for my body to handle while still taking my meds. I would have to stop taking them before the surgery to give my body time to flush them out of my system, but being off them for long would be really dangerous. And then without the meds in my system, I would be at higher risk for infection after the surgery, and even a really mild infection could kill me.” As Shiro speaks, tears leak steadily down his face, soaking into Keith’s duvet.

“Oh no, Shiro, I’m so sorry.”

“Unless they find some way to cure an incurable disease, I’m never going to be able to have top surgery,” Shiro says, his voice breaking into a sob.

Keith shimmies down beside Shiro and wraps their arms around him. Shiro clings to them while he cries, burying his face in Keith’s hair. Keith isn’t sure what to say, so they just hold Shiro while he falls apart. Keith can’t beat this problem with a few kind words. It’s something beyond anyone’s control.

“I’m sorry,” Shiro says after a few minutes. He sighs heavily. “I’ve just wanted this for so fucking long. I need some time to wrap my head around everything.”

“There’s no rush,” Keith says gently.

Shiro groans. “I don’t want to keep wearing a binder for the rest of my goddamn life. It’s awful and I hate it. It doesn’t even work that well for me.”

Keith hums. “If Satan were an object, he would be a binder.”

That gets him a weak laugh from Shiro. “Honestly.”

Keith trails their hand up and down Shiro’s back, tracing along the edge of Shiro’s binder where they can feel it through Shiro’s shirt. “Do you want to take it off? You don’t need to wear it when it’s just us.”

Shiro huffs. “I don’t know. It sucks, and I hate it, but I don’t really want to be reminded that I have a chest right now.”

“For what it’s worth,” Keith says cautiously. “I like your chest.”

“You don’t have to try make me feel better, Keith.” 

“I’m not. I like your chest. It’s nice and soft and fuzzy.”

“Soft and fuzzy?” Shiro repeats. “You make it sound like I’m a cat.”

“You know what I mean,” Keith says, rolling their eyes. “You’re really pretty, Shiro.”

Shiro scoffs loudly at that. “Now I know you’re just trying to make me feel better.”

“No, I mean it,” Keith says. They prop themself up on one elbow to look at him. “You’ve got such soft hair and skin, and you have the prettiest eyes, and you always make me feel safe.”

“Why do I feel like—”

“And you’ve got the world’s _best_ ass.”

“There it is,” Shiro laughs.

Keith smiles down at Shiro. “You’re so gorgeous, baby. I wish I could show you how amazing I think you are.”

“Even though I might never have top surgery and will never be able to transition like I want to?” Shiro asks, bitterness creeping back into his voice. 

Keith leans down to give the tip of Shiro’s nose a quick kiss. “I don’t love you ‘even though’ anything. I love you because you’re an amazing person and you make me really happy.”

Shiro gives them a fleeting smile. “I’m sorry. I know I’m being a real downer at the moment.”

“You don’t need to apologise, Shiro. I just wish I could help you feel better.”

Shiro shrugs. “It’s okay. I feel better having you here. I was not in a good place last night, and it was stupid to just hide away from everything.”

“Maybe, but you’re okay, and you don’t need to deal with all of this alone,” Keith reminds him. “You’ve got me, and I’m going to be here for you for as long as you need me.”

Shiro smiles. “Thank you, baby.”

“Now, how about you take that stupid binder off? I’ve got some of your shirts around here somewhere. You can wear one of those if you want.”

“So _that’s_ where all my comfy shirts went,” Shiro says. “Yeah, okay. I do miss being able to breathe.”

With that, Shiro sits up and pulls his shirt off, followed by his binder. He pulls it off with practiced ease and tosses it to the other side of the room. When Keith goes to get up to get him a shirt, Shiro puts a hand on his wrist.

“What?” Keith asks.

“Don’t worry about it,” Shiro says. “I don’t really mind, not around you.”

“Well then,” Keith says, “I’ll even the playing field.” Keith sits up and pulls off their shirt too. They’re not wearing anything under it, so now they’re both bare-chested.

“You’re so pretty,” Shiro says softly.

“I think you mean _you’re_ so pretty,” Keith says. “Look at you. Do you mind if I touch?”

Shiro shrugs. “Knock yourself out.”

“Sit up against the headboard for me,” Keith says. Shiro scoots back and Keith follows him, shuffling up on their knees. When Shiro stops, Keith swings one leg over Shiro’s and carefully lowers their weight onto his thighs. Shiro watches them as they bring their hands up over their stomach and up Shiro’s body, gently brushing over his breasts and up to his throat. When Keith brings their hands up to rest on Shiro’s cheeks, they lean forward to kiss him. Shiro rests his hands on Keith’s hips as they press their lips together, holding them close as they pepper him with kisses. Keith kisses along his jaw and the side of his neck. “I want to get my mouth on you. Do you want to lie back for me?”

When he nods, Keith hops off his lap so that Shiro can move himself back down the bed and lie flat. Keith shuffles back and swings their leg back over Shiro so they can be above him on their hands and knees. They drop down onto their elbows and press a kiss to the centre of his chest before moving over to kiss one of his nipples. Shiro exhales shakily as Keith takes a moment to give his nipple a couple of wet kisses, switching to the other side to give his other nipple the same attention. When they’re done, they rest their head over the left side of Shiro’s chest to listen to his heart beat just a little bit faster than usual. If Keith were feeling up to it, they might spend some more time playing with Shiro’s nipples, really having some fun with it. Tonight, they’re not really interested in turning this into something sexual. They just want the chance to try and give Shiro the tiniest glimpse of how gorgeous they think he is.

“I know you’re upset about top surgery,” Keith says. “And rightfully so. I just want you to know that that doesn’t make you any less of a man. You’re the bravest and kindest man I know; you don’t need to prove anything to anyone.”

Shiro huffs out a laugh and wraps his arms around Keith. They stretch out so that they’re lying flat on top of Shiro. He’s soft and warm beneath them, and they sigh at the feeling of their bare skin against one another.

“You’re going to make me cry again, you sap,” Shiro says.

“Happy tears are fine, those are allowed.”

Shiro is silent for a moment, just skimming his fingers up along Keith’s back. “Thank you, baby. I’m still really upset, but you make it better.”

“I’m glad I can do something to help.”

Shiro sighs and closes his eyes. “I know it’s not even midday yet, but I’m exhausted.”

“It’s been a rough couple of days.”

Shiro nods. He’s silent for a few minutes, and Keith almost thinks that he’s fallen asleep when he gasps loudly. “ _Keith!_ ”

“What?”

“We have class!” Shiro hisses.

“And?”

“We can’t skip just because we want to have a nap,” Shiro says, trying to sit up. Keith refuses to let go and keeps him pinned to the bed.

“Nope! You are having the day off! You can go back to being a productive member of society tomorrow. Today you’re going to have a nap, then we’re going to go and get some snacks, and we’re going to watch Twilight and make out during the scary parts.”

They stare at each other for a moment before Shiro seems to remember that he’ll never win in a battle of stubbornness with Keith.

“Fine. Just let me email some people to say I won’t be in class, and then I’m all yours.”

“Woo!” Keith flops back onto the bed and wriggles into a comfortable position in the pile of blankets while Shiro fires off some emails from his phone. When he’s done, Shiro wriggles out of his jeans and tosses them across the room before climbing back under the covers with Keith.

“I love you, baby,” Shiro says. “Even if you encourage me to ditch class like a delinquent.”

Keith laughs and shuffles in closer to him. “I love you too. Now, roll over, I want my human pillow.”

Shiro rolls his eyes but does as Keith requests. Keith curls up with their head against Shiro’s side, and one hand splayed over his stomach. Shiro has marks from where his binder cut into his skin, and Keith follows them with their fingertips.

“Maybe I’ll stop wearing my binder so much now,” Shiro says.

“Really?”

“Yeah. I mean, it doesn’t really work. I’m too big for it to do anything other than give me a bit of a mono-boob.”

Keith bursts out laughing. “ _Mono-boob_ ,” they wheeze. “That’s the best thing I’ve ever heard in my _life_.”

Shiro joins in on the laughter. “If you had a bigger chest, you would know what I was talking about.”

“Alas, I am the tiny-tit bandit,” Keith says dramatically. “Cursed to have only the tiniest of titties.”

“I think they’re cute,” Shiro says, a slight blush on his cheeks.

“Thank you! I grew them myself.”

Shiro barks out a laugh at that. “You’re ridiculous.”

“And you’re sexy as fuck.”

“I walked right into that one, didn’t I?”

“Weren’t you the one that wanted to have a nap?” Keith reminds him.

Shiro gives them a gentle tap on the nose. “You’re the one keeping me awake with all this talking!”

“Fine, I’ll be quiet. If you need me, I shall be buried between the best pair of tits this planet has ever seen.” And with that, Keith leans over and buries their face in the middle of Shiro’s chest, earning themself a roar of laughter.

“Fuck off,” Shiro laughs. “Go to sleep like a normal person.”

“Fine,” Keith sighs. “Make sure you set an alarm, or we’re going to wake up in six hours and not know what year it is.”

“Yeah, I got it,” Shiro says. “Thank you for today, baby. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Keith drifts off to the feeling of Shiro’s thumb rubbing soothing circles into their side. 

**Author's Note:**

> Shiro definitely forgets to set the alarm, and they definitely wake up six hours later with no idea what year it is. 
> 
> I'm also [on Twitter](https://twitter.com/that_is_yeet)!


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